THIS DAY IN HISTORY: EDGE WINS THE WORLD TITLE, STEVE AUSTIN MAKES HIS FIRST RAW APPEARANCE AND MORE

By Buck Woodward on 2010-01-08 08:00:00

January 8th

On this day in history in ....

1917 - Wladek Zbyszko defeats B.F. Roller for the American Heavyweight
Title in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Charlie Cutler had been recognized as
champion in 1914 and began claiming the World Heavyweight Title in 1915, leaving
the American title vacant.

1957 - Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff defeat Fritz Von Erich and Karl Von
Schober in a tournament final to become the first Minneapolis NWA World Tag Team
Champions in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The title would go on to become the AWA
World Tag Team Title in 1960, when Verne Gagne left the NWA and founded the
promotion.

1962 - Len Rossi wins the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title for the
second time, defeating Don Greene in Memphis, Tennessee.

1965 - Pepper Martin defeats Pat Patterson for the NWA Pacific Northwest
Heavyweight Title, ending Patterson's second reign and beginning his third.
Patterson defeated Martin for the title five days earlier.

1966 - Tim Woods defeats Mad Dog Vachon in Omaha, Nebraska to win the AWA
World Heavyweight Title, or so he thought. Six days later, AWA President Stanley
Blackburn declared the match a no contest after reviewing footage of the match,
and returned the title to Vachon. Woods had his feet on the ropes during the
pinfall. Vachon defeated Woods that same day for the title.

1984 - Don Kernodle and Bob Orton, Jr. defeat Dory Funk, Jr. and Jimmy
Valiant for the vacant Mid-Atlantic NWA World Tag Team title in Charlotte, North
Carolina. The title was vacated when Ricky Steamboat, who held the title with
Jay Youngblood, announced his retirement on Christmas, ending their fifth reign.

1993 - Espectrito I defeats Mascarita Sagrada to win the Mexican National
Mini-Estrella Title in Queretaro, Mexico.

1994 - Far 2 Wild (Chris Michaels and Todd Morton) defeat PG-13 (JC Ice
and Wolfie D) for the held up USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee. The
title was held up after a match between the two teams on January 3 in Memphis.
This began Far 2 Wild's second reign.

1995 - Arn Anderson defeats Johnny B. Badd to win the WCW World
Television Title for the fourth time in Atlanta, Georgia during a live edition
of "The Main Event".

Nitro was live in Charleston, South Carolina and featured Eric Bischoff giving
away the results of the pre-taped RAW show, as well as criticizing the WWF
raising their pay-per-view prices by five dollars.
The results:
- Chris Benoit pinned Alex Wright with a dragon suplex.
- Eddie Guerrero pinned Lord Steven Regal with a backslide.
- Sting defeated Diamond Dallas Page by submission with the Scorpion Deathlock.
- Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair
and Arn Anderson, when Hogan pinned Anderson after the legdrop. The Giant came
out and chokeslammed both Hogan and Savage after the match.

Monday Night RAW was taped on December 18 in Newark, Delaware at the Bob
Carpenter Center. The show featured the television debut of Steve Austin as The
Ringmaster, being presented the Million Dollar Championship by Ted DiBiase. This
edition of RAW also featured a full replay of the bloody Bret Hart-British
Bulldog WWF World Title match at In Your House on December 17. The match
results:
- Jeff Jarrett defeated Hakushi by submission with the Figure-Four Leglock.
- Ahmed Johnson pinned Jeff Brettler with the Pearl River Plunge.
- Goldust pinned Aldo Montoya after the Curtain Call.

2001 - The Monday Night War continued in its final months. WWF RAW is
WAR's 4.8 rating more than doubled WCW Monday Nitro's 2.1 rating, its
second-lowest in nine months (1.8 on April 3 and December 11, 2000).

WWF RAW is WAR was live at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California.
The results:
In matches taped for the following weekend's "Jakked":
- Crash Holly defeated Essa Rios.
- K-Kwik defeated Donovan Morgan.
- Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) defeated Boyce La Grande and
Robert Thompson.
In RAW matches:
- Chris Jericho and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) defeated The Radicalz (WWF
Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn), when
Jericho pinned Benoit with a roll-up out of the Crippler Crossface.
- Billy Gunn pinned Val Venis with the One and Only in a lumberjack match.
- The Rock and referees Jack Doan and Teddy Long defeated Kane and Rikishi in a
handicap match by disqualification.
- WWF Hardcore Champion Raven defeated Steve Blackman to retain the title after
interference from Hardcore Holly, after a brawl to the back, Raven jumped into a
waiting car and left with his title.
- Albert and Trish Stratus defeated Test in a handicap match, when Albert pinned
Test after William Regal interfered.
- Steve Austin and WWF Champion Kurt Angle fought to a no contest when Triple H
pulled referee Earl Hebner from the ring while Austin had Angle pinned after a
Stone Cold Stunner.

2002 - The WWF taped the January 10 edition of SmackDown! and January 14
edition of Sunday Night Heat at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New
York. The results:
In dark matches:
- Brock Lesnar pinned Randy Orton after a powerslam.
- Ron Waterman defeated Rico Constantino by submission with a torture rack.
In Sunday Night Heat matches:
- Albert and Scotty 2 Hotty defeated Crash Holly and Funaki, when Scotty pinned
Holly after the Worm.
- Billy Gunn pinned Tajiri after the Fameasser.
- The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) defeated Perry Saturn and Sgt. Slaughter
by disqualification when Slaughter used his belt.
In SmackDown! matches:
- WWF Tag Team Champion Spike Dudley and Tazz defeated The Un-Americans
(Christian and Lance Storm), when Tazz made Christian submit with the
Tazzmission.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Edge pinned Big Bossman after the Edgecutioner.
- The Rock and Rob Van Dam defeated Undisputed WWF Champion Chris Jericho and
Test, when The Rock made Jericho submit with the Sharpshooter.
- Jazz and Terri defeated WWF Women's Champion Trish Stratus and Jacqueline.
This match did not air.
- Rikishi and Booker T fought to a no contest when Booker T vomited on the
announce table after Rikishi's Stinkface.
- Steve Austin and Kurt Angle fought to a no contest when Kane interfered and
chokeslammed both men.

2005 - The CyberSpace Wrestling Federation renames itself as NWA
Cyberspace after joining the National Wrestling Alliance, and a title changes
hands in Wayne, New Jersey. Sonjay Dutt defeats Grim Reefer by forfeit to win
the NWA Cyberspace Cruiser-X Title.

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